Print quality is lousy

By design, Brother printers stop all printing when one of the cartridges is empty. This is done to avoid cleaning cycles sucking air into the system, which could possibly damage the printhead.

Even if you print in black only by changing the print settings to "Mono" or "Grayscale" to avoid printing in color, cleaning cycles would still **** air from the empty color cartridge because they are programmed to clean ALL the ink nozzles. The only way to continue printing is to replace the empty ink cartridge(s).

After replacing the empty color cartridge, you could print in "Mono" or "Grayscale" to make better use of just the black ink.

I have a brother MFC 3240C. My Black ink stopped printing(initially printed horizontal faded lines and gradually got worse), the other colors were printing fine. I tried cleaning numerous time( 50 -100 times over 1-2 weeks ). Still no improvement. The way I print now is:
1. I go to Printer Properties
2. Change Media type from "Plain Paper" to "Inkjet Paper".
3. Change Quality to "Photo".

This takes a long time to print 1-2 minutes per page. However, this works for me since this is my Home printer and use it for printing only few pages here are there.

Good Luck
RK

clean the connector between the cartridge and the brownish part in the printer where the cartridge touches. it might be dirty and thus not enabling the connection with the black

Always try replacing the ink cartridges first.

It sounds like the print heads in the 7780 are bad. Don't confuse the ink cartridges with print heads. The cartridges fit inside the print heads. You will need to change the heads. Here is a link to HP's how-to.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00841890&tmp_track_link=ot_faqs/top_issues/en_us/c00841890/loc:1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=2512010

Could have the same problem with the Dell.

Hello,

There are a number of single issues that can cause your problem in this case. The most common are listed below:
1.) Color cartridge expended.
2.) Print Paper selection incorrect.

From your statement above. I would suggest it is both item 1 and 2. Since, we are doing this assistance via chat mail, I can't come to your aid and witness myself what the results are and what your settings are for the paper type.

When you end up with a red hue over all over the print area the cause it usually a bad print head and selecting the wrong paper type.

To answer you question then, Yes, replace your color cartridge. But, first, try this method below to clean your color cartridge bubble jets.

When you go to print a job, always go into print setup or printer properties and choose the paper type as closely as you can to match the paper you are using.

The print head manual cleaning is listed below, it is from Lexmark. Below that is a process to clean blurry and bad print results. Although this is not specifically the case in your problem. The process to achieve resolution will also correct any problem your machine may be having. Remember, I do believe you need a new color cartridge. You will know with certainty however when you clean the cartridge head. If you do not see, cyan, magenta and yellow lines upon cleaning, at all, ever, then those inks are depleted. Replace your ink cartridge and then do these steps below the head cleaning.

Also, when ever you change a black or color cartridge you will want to run a print head alignment test and adjustment. There is enough of a difference in cartridges that this is quite necessary.

Please do not hesitate to give me as much feedback as possible on any issues and results you discover. You can use the comment text area below to respond to these instructions and give me the results of your tests and procedures.

Regards, Worldvet

Cleaning procedure

1. Remove the print cartridges.
2. Moisten a clean, lint-free cloth with water.
3. Gently hold the cloth against the nozzles for about three seconds, and then wipe in the direction shown below.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Using another clean section of the cloth, gently hold the cloth against the contacts for about three seconds, and then wipe in the direction shown.
   
   
   
5. With another clean section of the cloth, repeat steps 2 through 4 above.
6. Allow the nozzles and contacts to dry completely.
7. Reinsert the print cartridges.
8. Print the document again.
9. If the print quality does not improve, repeat the steps for cleaning the nozzles and contacts up to two more times.

To Resolve Print Quality Issues (below is for blurry lines, it will resolve many other issues too, so proceed after replacing your color ink cartridge if upon cleaning you see no ink coming out and the cartridge feels very light and makes little to no sound when you shake the cartridge.)

Overview This article outlines various techniques for resolving a blurry print issue. Cleaning the print cartridge nozzles is necessary when:

• Characters are not printing completely.
• White dashes appear in graphics or printed text.
• Print is smudged or too dark.
• Vertical, straight lines are not smooth.
• Colors on print jobs are faded, or they differ from the colors on the screen.

Clean the Print Cartridge Nozzles using the Computer

1. Load plain paper.
2. Open the Lexmark Solution Center (go to Start, Programs, Lexmark XXXX Series, Lexmark Solution Center).
3. From the Maintenance tab, click Clean to fix horizontal streaks.
4. Click Print. A nozzle page prints, forcing ink through to clean the clogged nozzles.
5. Print the document again to verify that print quality has improved.
6. If print quality has not improved, try cleaning the print cartridge nozzles up to two more times.

Clean and Wick the Cartridge

1. Try cleaning and wicking the cartridge to help improve the print quality. See this article for directions.
2. When this step is complete, try to run the clean print nozzles (CPN) operation again.

Auto Alignment · Align the print cartridges
Align the print cartridges after installing them to improve print quality. To do this:

1. Load plain paper.
2. Open the Lexmark Solution Center.
3. From the Maintenance tab, click Align to fix blurry edges.
4. Click Print. NOTE: Discard the page after it prints.
   

User the Quality Settings in Print Properties
Print Properties is the software that controls the printing function when the All-In-One is connected to a computer. You can change the settings in Print Properties based on the type of project you want to create. Do the following:

1. With a document open, click File, Print.
2. In the Print dialog, click the Properties (or Preferences, or Options, or Setup) button. The Print Properties screen appears.
   
   
   Click here for an enlarged view.
   
3. Try changing the following settings to see if your print quality improves:
   
   Quality/Copies
   Quality/Speed
   Multiple Copies·Specify how the All-In-One should print several copies of a single print job: collated or uncollated.
   Print Color images in Black and White·Select this to print color images in black and white.
   
   Paper Setup
   Paper Type·Select the type of paper you are using, or allow the printer sensor to select the paper type for you.
   Paper Size·Select the size of the paper you are using, and specify whether or not you want to print borderless.
   Orientation·Specify how you want the document oriented on the printed page - portrait or landscape.
   
   Print Layout
   Layout·Select the print layout you require.
   Duplexing·Select this option when you want to print on both sides of the paper.

Save Settings
From the Save Settings menu, you can name and save the current Print Properties settings for future use. You can save up to five custom settings
I Want To
The I Want To menu appears when you open Print Properties. It contains a variety of task wizards·printing a banner, printing a poster, printing a photograph, printing an envelope, printing on both sides of the paper·to help you select the correct print settings for a project.
Check the Media

If the print is still blurry, try printing the same image on a different media brand/type: plain paper designed for use with inkjet printerscard stockgreeting cards, index cards, postcards, or photo cardscoated paperphoto or glossy papertransparenciesiron-on transfersbanner paper

Use the Lexmark Photo Editor
Try printing a higher quality image, or print an image from a different source.

Sadly in a word, 'No'.

Here is the exact answer from Brother:

Your Brother machine is designed to stop ALL printing operations
(printing from the pc, printing received faxes and printing copies or reports) when any of the ink cartridges are empty. This is to ensure the life of the print head and maintain premium print quality. If the unit were to continue printing, print jobs and cleaning cycles would suction air from the dry cartridge and damage the printhead. Even if you print in black only or change the print settings to MONO or GRAYSCALE to avoid printing in color, the programmed cleaning cycles would still suction the dry cartridge, because they are programmed to clean ALL the ink nozzles.

The only way to continue printing is to replace the empty ink cartridge or cartridges.

While memory is available, black and white faxes will continue to be received into memory. If a color fax is being received, the Brother machines HANDSHAKE will request the fax be sent as black and white fax.

All faxes received into memory will automatically print once the ink cartridge is replaced.

NOTE: Brother strongly recommends that customers do not use generic ink or refill their Brother ink cartridges. Using non-Brother supplies may affect the hardware performance, print quality and machine reliability since the ink formulation in genuine Brother ink cartridges prevent smearing and clogging of the print head. The Brother limited warranty does not apply to any problem that was caused by the use of unauthorized third party ink and/or cartridges.

Hav you replaced with original cartridges or 3rd party/refilled ones? This is a common problem when using generic/refilled cartridges. Let me know that first..

When you say poor quality, do you mean faded printouts, or broken print? Kindly explain in detail, so I can assist you further.

I have this same model printer and had this same problem. I solved it by running the cleaning cycle repeatedly (30 times or more). It nealy drained the black cartridge, but they're cheap compared to a new printer ($100 for the mfc240c that replaced it). Press the ink button to the left of the display. Select "test print" and "print quality from the menus, then hit print. After printing, the display will ask if quality is ok. Press 2 for no. It will ask if the black was ok, press 2 for no, if the color looks ok, then press 1 when it asks if color is ok, then press 1 when it asks to start cleaning. In a minute or so, it will beep and tell you to press start. Once the sheet prints again, repeat the same sequence. I didn't even wait for the display, I would just press 2,2,1,1, each time it printed. At first the black section was blank, the one dash appeared, then two or three. I gradually gained on it until I had most of them working again, then let it set overnight and ran a few more cycles the next day and it finally all started working.

Check if the charge corona cleaner is pushed all the way to the end. If not, it will leave a black bar on all images.

just try with tet page of printer and also reinstall the driver and see. bye